Robert Robinson, MD and Omar Vargas, MD, have been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Internal Medicine.

Zachariah Gurnsey, MD, a hospitalist in General Internal Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, has been approved as a Fellow in the Society of Hospital Medicine. Dr. Gurnsey is a 2006 graduate of SIU School of Medicine and a 2009 graduate of SIU's Internal Medicine residency training program. He joined the faculty in July of 2009.

Trinadha Pilla, MD (Med/Psych PGY 5) and his wife, Malathi Pilla, MD, (Psych PGY 2) have been awarded the American Psychiatric Association/Lilly Resident Research Award. The award will be presented at the Convocation of Fellows program during the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting on Monday, May 5, 2014 in New York, NY.

Andrzej Bartke, Ph.D., Internal Medicine, received the 2013 Robert W. Kleemeier Award from the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). This honor is given annually to a GSA member in recognition for outstanding research in the field of gerontology. It was established in 1965 in memory of Robert W. Kleemeier, Ph.D., a former president of the Society. The award was presented on November 21 at GSA's 66th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans.Dr. Bartke is professor emeritus and distinguished scholar at SIU SOM, where he directs the laboratory on aging and longevity research.

Staff from the Department of Internal Medicine joined Dr. David Steward and Dean Kevin Dorsey, M.D., Ph.D., at the unveiling of the new David E. Steward, M.D., M.P.H. Conference Room on December 2. Dr. Steward was chair of the department from 1996-2013. He is now associate dean for community health and service. The D443 conference room in Memorial Medical Center was renovated through the generous gifts of Robert L. Gordon, M.D., and the family and friends of James M. Deckard. Improvements include new carpet, furniture, wall decor, a podium and a Sharp Aquos Board with interactive display.

Christine Todd has been named Chair of the Medical Humanities Department at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. Dr. Todd is an Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine at SIU and a 1993 graduate of the medical school. Previously, she was an assistant professor of internal medicine and family and community medicine (2000-13) and an adjunct faculty member (1997-2000). She has been director of the Department of Internal Medicine’s hospitalist program since 2006.

David E. Steward, MD, MPH assumed the rank of Associate Dean of Community Health and Service at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Aug. 1, 2013. Dr. Steward now leads a new Office of Community Health and Service, which will organize and oversee the School’s community service work in Springfield and throughout central and southern Illinois. Dr. Steward has been a faculty member at SIU since 1993 and was Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, 1996-2013.

Susan Thompson Hingle, MD has been named Interim Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. Aug. 1, 2013, she replaced Dr. David Steward, who was named Associate Dean for the School’s new Office of Community Health and Service. Dr. Hingle is a Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, internal medicine’s clerkship director and residency associate program director, as well as SIU’s associate doctoring curriculum director. She began her career at SIU School of Medicine in 1998. She is very active in medical education, physician-patient relationships and women’s health issues. Dr. Hingle is currently Chair of the Board of Governors of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the nation’s largest medical specialty organization.